Appendix L. Example of a Brief Victim Survey

The following is a brief sample questionnaire extracted from the report, What Do Victims Want? Effective Strategies to Achieve Justice for Victims of Crime.121 This report was developed from the 1999 International Association of Chiefs of Police Summit on Victims of Crime.

While this questionnaire was not focused on sexual assaults, the questions could be readily adapted to sexual assault crimes and topics asked of respondents. To encourage responses from victims, it is wise to keep the survey short, limiting it to no more than the equivalent of two sides of a sheet of paper. The survey information would be considerably enhanced if respondents who rated items as unsatisfactory were asked to provide additional details.

  • Did you feel respected? Safe?
  • Did you receive sufficient and accurate information? At the right time?
  • Were you asked what you needed? Did you receive the services you needed in a timely manner?
  • Did you understand the processing of your case, including the timing of processing and the length of time it took?
  • Did you feel justice was done?
  • Do you have any suggestions for improvement?

 

121 What do Victims Want? Effective Strategies to Achieve Justice for Victims of Crime, Int’l Ass’n Chiefs Police 21-22 (May 2000), http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/pdfs/WhatDoVictimsWantSummitReport.pdf.